Sehrish Naeem - Find a Job During Holiday Season

This is a busy time of year, with holiday parties to attend, enormous meals to plan, shopping to be done, and visiting family members to entertain. The holidays can be stressful all by themselves. But what do you do if you're also looking for a job?

Most job seekers delay those efforts until after the New Year. They take time off when they should be making the most of this time. Many believe the myths that no one hires during the holidays, and that everyone takes a break from business to focus on family and festivities. Don't fall into this trap.

Despite the high unemployment rate, negative media and political messages, and cautious job-market growth, the best gift you can give yourself this holiday season is a successful job search. Use this time of year to your advantage and start the New Year off with a new job.

Navigating a job search is never easy, but here are the top 10 reasons why now is the time to renew your job search.

Less Competition -- Many job seekers take a break during the holidays, which means your competition for job opportunities is a fraction of what it is during the rest of the year. Fewer applications mean a greater chance of your résumé getting noticed and rising to the top of the pile.

Tight Deadlines -- Many organizations need to make critical hiring decisions by Dec. 31 in order to meet their approved budget deadlines and allow the new employee to start in early January. Their sense of urgency to complete the hiring process by year-end is a great advantage to job seekers.

Better Networking -- There are an abundance of parties and social gatherings, otherwise known as prime networking opportunities. Keeping that in mind will help keep the drinking to a minimum. Remember, even if it's a party, you're still working.

More Time -- Things are usually slower at work, and if you're an employed job seeker, it gives you more time to look for a new job. Take a few extra minutes on your breaks to browse Internet job sites, research companies and send out résumés. However, be aware that many employers track Internet use.

Feeling Social -- People are filled with the holiday spirit, are more relaxed and are more willing to answer their own phones, return emails, and get together for coffee and cocktails. Take the initiative and make some plans.

Get Connected -- Holiday cards are a great way to keep in touch with quality connections, reconnect with recruiters, and stay on the radar of important decision makers. Make sure to add new names to your holiday list as well as keep the old.

Be Prepared -- Use the downtime wisely to research companies and industries, update your stale résumé, send invitations to connect on LinkedIn, and position yourself for the busiest hiring month of January. Doing a little to further your job search during the holidays is always better than doing nothing.

New Opportunities -- Employees take time off during the holidays, which creates additional opportunities for part-time, contract or temporary assignments that get your foot in the door and showcase your strengths. Say yes to a new opportunity and you might be pleasantly surprised.

Greater Giving -- In the spirit of giving, there are countless opportunities to volunteer your time and talents to help others during a difficult time. In turn, volunteering helps job seekers gain perspective about others in need, feel useful and productive, network, make new connections.

Stay Engaged -- Keeping the job search going strong during the holiday season also keeps the momentum going and demonstrates your tenacity, determination and commitment to finding a new job. You'll be light years ahead of other job seekers as they feebly attempt to re-energize their job search in January.

It's hard to imagine adding one more thing to your holiday plate, but there¹s still plenty of room for a job search. Even if you send out only a few résumés, or add only a couple of new connections on LinkedIn, the goal is to not abandon your job search completely. Celebrate not only the holiday season, but also the small successes you're making towards your job search.

Even while the eggnog is flowing, the lights are twinkling and your neighbors are caroling, it's critical to stay focused and engaged in your job search. It's possible, and strongly recommended, to enjoy the holidays and to conduct a positive and successful job search at the same time. Give yourself the best gift of the season -- a new job.

Sehrish Naeem - Social Media Used Extensively by Employers and Job Seekers

Sehrish Naeem Says:

Social media use in the HR field has skyrocketed over the past few years. Not only are more employers using the technology, but many job seekers look to social networking sites when sending out resumes and applications.

I applied for numerous positions as a senior in college and, to my surprise, the majority of companies had an “apply with LinkedIn” feature. I saw this so much I began moving away from common job boards, to social media sites like LinkedIn. According to a social distribution, leading provider of Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) recruiting and hiring software, I was not alone.

more than 14 million people used social media to find their job last year.

And why wouldn’t they? The report also showed that more than half (55 percent) of jobs are posted to two or more social networks. Most people use social media multiple times per day. It only makes sense that more and more employers are utilizing the tools most people regularly use each day.

Other key points included:

·         73 percent of employers successfully hired candidates through social media

·         49 percent of employers saw an increase in their candidate pools after implementing social recruiting

·         33 percent of companies saw an increase in employee referrals

·         20 percent of companies said social recruiting reduces time-to-hire

Twitter, LinkedIn and Facebook were the top three most-used social media for job ads, recruiters and employers. LinkedIn came in at no. 1 with 77 percent of job ads posted on the site, 98 percent of recruiters using it and 80 percent of companies also using LinkedIn. Facebook had the least amount of job ads posted with 25 percent, but more companies use Facebook (50 percent) than Twitter

Sehrish Naeem - Five Ways to Improve the Job Prospects of Recent College Grads

Sehrish Naeem Says:

The first question in last night’s town-hall presidential debate came from a college student, who asked the candidates how they would reassure him that he’d be able to support himself after graduation.

Unemployment among recent college graduates remains (although it has dropped in the last year and is still much lower than for those with only a high-school education). If you listen to many economists, presidents have little control over creating jobs.

Here are five ways to put more college graduates to work:

Encourage Work at Start-ups.

The recruiters who come to college and university campuses every spring are the big Fortune 500 companies. Rarely do small businesses or start-ups have the time or money to spend on campus hiring fairs. We need to find more avenues to get college and university graduates placed in burgeoning companies. One idea I like is  It’s a new program, modeled after that places graduates in start-up companies for two years in smaller cities across the country.

Help Graduates Create Start-ups.

The period right after college and university  graduation is a time in life when people are probably most willing to take risks. We should encourage graduates with good ideas by linking them to mentors and places to work One reason students look for full-time, paying gigs after graduation is because of their student loans. There are ways for them to defer payments or pay back the loans as a part of their income, but we need programs specifically designed for entrepreneurs.  

Improve Career Information Given to Students.

It seems nearly every college claims to have a job-placement rate of 70-plus percent. Those numbers are often based on surveys of graduates. They don’t tell you how or where they are employed, nor how many people responded to the survey. More colleges need to be like, which has published detailed employment and salary data for 92 percent of its Class of 2011.

More Co-op and Immersive Experiences.

Internships are great, but colleges and university don’t supervise the experiences enough to ensure that students are getting real experience that will be helpful to them in the workplace. Many are leaders in the co-op movement, which places students in real, paying jobs during college and university has an “immersive learning experience” that helps students partner with clients to solve real-world problems.  

Create More and Better Post High-School Pathways.

We continue to cling to a single, iconic image of life after high school as a four-year college campus or university In doing so, we exclude large portions of the population from sharing in the nation's economic successes What’s needed? More apprenticeships, public service, and other structured work environments.

How to Develop Strong Enterprise Leaders

Sehrish Naeem says :
Enterprise leaders must be able to

(1) Make Decisions That Are Good For The Business As A Whole
(2) Evaluate The Talent On Their Teams

To do both they need to recognize that business functions are distinct managerial subcultures, each with its own mental models and language. Effective leaders understand the different ways that professionals in finance, marketing, operations, HR, and R&D approach business problems, and the various tools (discounted cash flow, customer segmentation, process flow, succession planning, stage gates, and the like) that each discipline applies. Leaders must be able to speak the language of all the functions and translate for them when necessary. And critically, leaders must know the right questions to ask and the right metrics for evaluating and recruiting people to manage areas in which they themselves are not experts.

In addition to assigning him to a high-performing unit, company should had strong systems in place for evaluating and developing talent in key functions. These included well-crafted systems for performance reviews and 360-degree feedback, and for collecting input from corporate functions. Heads of finance and HR, for instance, while reporting directly to them, also had dotted-line reporting relationships with their respective corporate departments, which assisted  Enterprise leader with their evaluation and development. So he had plenty of resources to help him understand what “excellence” meant for each function.

SEHRISH NAEEM - 8 Qualities of Remarkable Employees

Sehrish Naeem Says:

Great employees are reliable, dependable, proactive, diligent, great leaders and great followers... they possess a wide range of easily-defined—but hard to find—qualities.

A few hit the next level. Some employees are remarkable, possessing qualities that may not appear on performance appraisals but nonetheless make a major impact on performance.

Here are eight qualities of remarkable employees:

1. They ignore job descriptions. The smaller the company, the more important it is that employees can think on their feet, adapt quickly to shifting priorities, and do whatever it takes, regardless of role or position, to get things done.

When a key customer's project is in jeopardy, remarkable employees know without being told there's a problem and j

2. They’re eccentric... The best employees are often a little different: quirky, sometimes irreverent, even delighted to be unusual. They seem slightly odd, but in a really good way. Unusual personalities shake things up, make work more fun, and transform a plain-vanilla group into a team with flair and flavor.

People who aren't afraid to be different naturally stretch boundaries and challenge the status quo, and they often come up with the best ideas.

3. But they know when to dial it back. An unusual personality is a lot of fun... until it isn't. When a major challenge pops up or a situation gets stressful, the best employees stop expressing their individuality and fit seamlessly into the team.

Remarkable employees know when to play and when to be serious; when to be irreverent and when to conform; and when to challenge and when to back off. It’s a tough balance to strike, but a rare few can walk that fine line with ease.

4. They publicly praise... Praise from a boss feels good. Praise from a peer feels awesome, especially when you look up to that person.

Remarkable employees recognize the contributions of others, especially in group settings where the impact of their words is even greater.

5. And they privately complain. We all want employees to bring issues forward, but some problems are better handled in private. Great employees often get more latitude to bring up controversial subjects in a group setting because their performance allows greater freedom.

Remarkable employees come to you before or after a meeting to discuss a sensitive issue, knowing that bringing it up in a group setting could set off a firestorm.

6. They speak when others won’t. Some employees are hesitant to speak up in meetings. Some are even hesitant to speak up privately.

An employee once asked me a question about potential layoffs. After the meeting I said to him, “Why did you ask about that? You already know what's going on.” He said, “I do, but a lot of other people don't, and they're afraid to ask. I thought it would help if they heard the answer from you.”

Remarkable employees have an innate feel for the issues and concerns of those around them, and step up to ask questions or raise important issues when others hesitate.

7. They like to prove others wrong. Self-motivation often springs from a desire to show that doubters are wrong. The kid without a college degree or the woman who was told she didn't have leadership potential often possess a burning desire to prove other people wrong.

Education, intelligence, talent, and skill are important, but drive is critical. Remarkable employees are driven by something deeper and more personal than just the desire to do a good job.

8. They’re always fiddling. Some people are rarely satisfied (I mean that in a good way) and are constantly tinkering with something: Reworking a timeline, adjusting a process, tweaking a workflow.

Great employees follow processes. Remarkable employees find ways to make those processes even better, not only because they are expected to… but because they just can't help it.

SEHRISH NAEEM - Five Tools for Naming a Startup

SEHRISH NAEEM  Says

1. Google  
If you aren’t familiar with the acronym G.I.A. (“Google It Already”), you should commit it to memory. The search-engine behemoth has a number of applications that are perfect to kick off your startup name search. Google Adwords’ Keyword Tool provides detailed information about the popularity of certain words and terms, including specific traffic numbers associated with them. Google also provides a patent search function that searches the entire U.S. patent database. Google Trends allows you to search through current and past search trends, so you can see when and why people have searched for your proposed business name. Most importantly, Google as a whole is a tool that gives you a macro view of the words and images associated with your idea. See what happens when you run your proposed business name through Google images, videos and even its translator.

2. Free worksheets
The Internet is a penny pinchers’ nirvana. You can find plenty of branding companies willing to dish out a little free advice for the opportunity to serve your company in the future. Companies like Wow Branding, Brandings and Brands For The People offer worksheets and e-books aimed at helping you brainstorm, focus your ideas and create a stellar brand name.

3. Your community

After you have come up with some ideas, turn to those you trust. Your friends and family make a great initial test group. Organize your potential ideas, present the concept and create a survey to keep the resulting feedback organized. Andy Smith, principal of Vonavona Ventures, an early stage enterprise consulting group and co-author of The Dragon Fly Effect, a book about brands, advises against long surveys that will turn off friends. “Make it focused and ask the bare minimum number of questions,” he says. “Take the extra step to make it interesting and fun somehow.” Pop Survey and Survey Monkeyare two free websites where you can easily create your own professional online surveys.

4. NameChk.com, Domain Registries
Once you have narrowed the field to a few potential names, it’s time to start researching availability.NameChk.com is a tool that can save hours of research time. Just plug in some potential names into the search box and it will simultaneous check almost 100 different online networks and communities, giving you instant feedback on username availability. You might even find a few helpful networks you’ve never heard of before. Also check domain registries, such as Go Daddy, Register.com andDomainRegistry.com, that will allow you to check availability and secure your URL.

5. The Government
One of the last steps in the naming process is making your entity official. Searching the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office database will reveal if your name is already in use (something you should have already Googled, remember?). If there’s a similar name registered, information will be available regarding what products it’s associated with, and if the company holding ownership is still active. Make sure to follow the trademark process outlined on the USPTO website and consider legal counsel before submitting an application. The cost associated with filing an online trademark application varies depending on the class of product, but generally falls in the $275 to $325 range.

SEHRISH NAEEM - Six Strategies for Partnering with Big Brands

Sehrish Naeem Says:

Tom Szaky didn't even try to get his product--a worm excrement fertilizer packed in a recycled bottle--into small retailers when he started TerraCycle six years ago. Instead, he reached as high as he could: Wal-Mart. "If I want to be big and do it quickly, the best way … is to work with the world's biggest companies," he says. "They can accelerate your cycle much more quickly than any other company can."

The Trenton, N.J.-based company's first big partnership with Wal-Mart in Canada was just the start of what has become a $14 million business. TerraCycle now gathers unrecyclable trash and converts it into products and packaging for such big brands as Kraft, Pepsi and Mars. Last year, corporate partners spent $45 million on TerraCycle-related marketing--far more than Szaky could have ever done alone.

Related: How to Redefine Your Business in a New Market

But breaking in with big companies is no easy feat. For Szaky, it took lots of research, persistence and trial and error. "The biggest mistake small companies make is they don't do enough homework," says Brant Slade, co-author of Think BIG!: An Entrepreneur's Guide to Partnering With Large Companies (Course Technology PTR, 2009). "They think … more from the small business point of view as opposed to thinking from the large business point of view."

Here's a checklist to help your small business prepare to partner with big brands:

1. Be unique. Make sure your business pitch is carefully thought out and offers value to your potential partner. After Robin Thurston co-founded MapMyFITNESS.com, an Austin, Texas-based fitness social network that offers online routes, training and group activities, he and his partner realized they had developed a geo-location technology that bigger companies wanting online fitness tools and access to a social network could use. With their first corporate partner, Cadbury's Accelorade sports drink, they collaborated on a web interface enabling users on their site to map and share workouts. "You have to have something that is clearly valuable to that big brand that they might not want to spend the time investing in or doing," Thurston says. Now, the company also builds web platforms and mobile phone apps for brands like NBC Sports, Humana and Skechers, whose customers can opt into the MapMyFITNESS social network.

2. Remain persistent. Although Szaky had the worm-excrement-in-a-recycled-bottle market cornered, getting that first deal with Wal-Mart in 2005 still required persistence. After scouring LinkedIn and alumni networks to find the right contact, Szaky called Wal-Mart 10 times a day, every day for three weeks until he finally got through and set up a meeting. Big companies field lots of requests, so persistence is a must. "There are some brands we are working with today that literally were five-year conversations," Thurston says.

3. Think big. You have to think like a big brand to partner with one. For MapMyFITNESS, that means developing large-scale projects. "A big brand doesn't want to talk about a $10,000 project," Thurston says. "They want to talk in seven figures and really big user numbers." For example, Thurston and his partner proposed that big companies give away their product with subscriptions to the MapMyFITNESS website. The size of their user base--nearly seven million today--was large enough to interest brands like Procter & Gamble's Febreze.

4. Plan for fast growth. If you're growing too quickly to keep up with demand, you'll lose money--and probably your partner. Szaky learned that lesson through experience. "The more we grew, the more we lost," he says. While TerraCycle's sales reached $6.6 million in 2008, it had a net loss of $4.5 million. The next year, Szaky began developing agreements with companies to handle production for him. Today, 40 companies make and sell TerraCycle products for major retailers and TerraCycle turned a profit of $100,000 in the last year.

Related: Richard Branson on Strategies for Success

Polka Dog Bakery, a Boston-based dog treat maker slated to expand into 1,763 Target stores this May, let the retailer oversee production and distribution in order to make the partnership feasible. "It would have been too much for us to expand at that capacity," says cofounder Robert Van Sickle of his 11-person company.

5. Prepare for scrutiny. Make sure your financial and legal affairs are in order. Since TerraCycle works with multinational companies, the company gets audited every two months. After failing the first few audits in his early partnerships, Szaky realized he needed to focus more on developing proper procedures. "If you are going to go down the path of working in big businesses, having your house in order is critical," he says. "You are going to get the growth but you are also going to get a lot more scrutiny."

6. Build on existing partnerships. Don't rush to find the next partner once you successfully link up with a big company. MapMyFITNESS gets a lot of new business from expanding existing partnerships, Thurston says. Companies are often more willing to consider developing a licensing partnership, for example, if they're already buying advertising on your website. "Too many entrepreneurs chase after the next client instead of recognizing the current client could mean a lot more revenue for them if they simply explore other revenue channels," Thurston says. Partnerships now account for a third of his company's total revenue.